The Other Algeria: Zidane, World Cup Soccer, Globalization, and the Media

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Through French Eyes

In France, there was a marked shift in coverage of Zidane before and after the final match, played on July 9, 2006. In the build-up to the match that began as soon as the French team won the semifinal match on July 5th, articles from Le Monde focused on national success. On July 7th, Potet wrote about Zidane’s goals while “wearing the Blue jersey” in hailing the French team’s arrival at only its second World Cup final in history (blue is the French national team color). The article went on to describe the team’s “incontestable collective mastery” of the sport.[38] In another July 7th article, Ceaux described Zidane’s goal during the France-Portugal semifinal match, saying, “He scores. France leads.” Ceaux went on to quote French coach, Raymond Domenech, who said Zidane “is not here to celebrate his jubilee, but to bring home the World Cup.”[39] Thus, Zidane may be a hero, but he is a hero because of what he has done and what the public hopes he will do for the French national team and the French nation.

On July 8, 2006, Barth wrote a headline, “The Fabulous Return of the Old Guard.” In this article, the journalist linked the current players on the French national team to their past success in winning the 1998 World Cup.[40] Further, the article reproduced a quote calling Zidane the “god of soccer.”[41] This article also attempted to bring together the francophone world, noting the accomplishments of Zidane, Lillian Thuram, and Claude Makelele – all members of the national team, but also all of immigrant heritage. Here, the writer acknowledges the racial diversity of the team and the nation, trying to unify both around the memory of what these players have already achieved and in the hope that they will have another similar success.

On July 9th, the day of the match, Le Monde contained headlines such as “Zidane: a French Icon”[42] and “Zidane the Final Touch.”[43] Jaxel-Truer makes it plain that, despite having a distinctively Kabyle name, Zidane represents everything that is French. Additionally, it should be noted that in French, Collier’s headline is a play on words that evokes both “the final sideline” or “last game” and “the final distinguishing point to a career.” Collier went on to write:

Whatever happens Sunday night in Berlin, Zidane will have succeeded in his exit. But he does have one match remaining. To end his fabulous career with a France-Italy match is something to savor for this guy from Marseille who discovered the cult of victory with Juventus of Turin between 1996-2001.[44]

Here Zidane is lauded as an international star thanks to his career that spans the border with Italy (Spain as well, but this is less relevant on July 9th because the match pits France against Italy). The implication is also that because Zidane is a winning player, France will win. In other words, here is an ordinary “guy from Marseille” who has built a “fabulous” record of winning. Thus, in the words of these two journalists, Zidane is not only a great player, but also a great cosmopolitan representative of the French nation on this global stage.

Almost instantly after the match that included Zidane’s head butt of Italian defender Marco Materazzi, the discourse in Le Monde shifted. Le Monde does not publish a Monday edition (the Sunday edition is actually a Sunday/Monday double edition), but the Tuesday, July 11, 2006 edition included the headlines “Zidane, distant and disappointing hero from la Castellane”[45] and “Zidane, the tarnished legend.”[46] Kessous interviewed Zidane’s old neighbors from the suburb of Marseille where he grew up, and one had this to say:

There’s discussion over the red card. There are some who see a positive sign, the ultimate imprint of a living god become human once again in front of hundreds of millions of spectators. Zidane, at 34 years old in his billionaire’s exile thus took with him the relics of his past, said Ayoub Argoubi, 17: “Zidane will remain a great player. Perhaps he has forgotten us, but his head butt, it’s an old remnant of la Castellane.”[47]

According to Mr. Argoubi, Zidane, the billionaire hero confronted with adversity, showed his roots as a tough from the ghetto. The La Castellane neighborhood has a reputation, as do many suburbs of large French cities as being areas of violence, drug use, and criminality; this criminality is often stereotypically projected onto North African and Black citizens and immigrants The implication here is that Zidane’s soccer career may belong to France, but as a person he truly belongs to the North African community. Thus, Zidane’s misdeed is separated from the achievements of the French national soccer team with one short paragraph.

Caussé continued to distance France’s achievement from Zidane’s actions by stating “he botched his exit like an overly spoiled child that has been poorly brought up.”[48] He meant that, while soccer is a sport played by men (in this case), Zidane acted like a child. This further separates him from the team and the nation. Caussé then solidifies this distancing, writing:

A head butt and this is the somber side of his character that reappeared, his dark side, the photographic negative of the image spread of one of the preferred public figures of the French. Sunday, the Italians beat the Blues in the final of the World Cup. France lost Zizou above all.[49]

In other words, there is something sinister about Zidane as a person that usually gets whitewashed due to his success and popularity with the French public, but his performance in the final match forced us all to take stock of who this person really is. He cements the distancing process with his final sentence, “France lost Zizou above all.” Zizou was a diminutive for Zidane, but he no longer deserves that, and France rejects the popular public figure, recognizing the sinister side.

The discourse surrounding Zidane’s comportment changed again on July 12, 2006, 3 days after the match, as the French media started to question the player’s actions. How could such a great player flout the rules of the game so blatantly? Jaxel-Truer decided to follow up on the public speculation that Materazzi must have very harshly provoked Zidane to elicit such a violation, and gave his article the headline, “But what on earth could Materazzi have said to Zidane?”[50] Why this shift from condemnation of Zidane’s act, to a questioning of the context? It was perhaps an attempt to explain the French team’s return to Paris during which the crowd that had gathered to greet them started chanting Zidane’s name demanding that their star take part in the festivities and receive his due congratulations.

By July 14th, Mandard was writing an article that nearly erased all trace of Zidane’s connection to the French team.[51] This article came the day after Zidane appeared in an interview on French television station Canal+ to discuss his actions. The entire article referred to Zidane as an individual and not as a member of the French national soccer team. This furthers the process of distancing the nation from behavior deemed unsuitable for “French people.” Still, the article was quite complex; one need only look at the headline “Zidane excuses himself, but expresses no regret,” to understand that the journalist is now trying to reconcile the actions with the public persona of a star player in a difficult situation.[52] This article continued the attempts made in Jaxel-Truer’s July 12th article to explain Zidane’s actions.

In another brief article from July 14, Zidane’s Algerian heritage is highlighted. “In Algeria, the country of origin of the player’s family, the population chose sides in favor of the Frenchman whose sense of honor was unanimously lauded.”[53] Here, we see a bit of complexity again. On the one hand, there is an attempt by the journalist to distance Zidane by placing the emphasis on his Algerian cultural origin by stating vaguely that his actions were seen in Algeria as honorable. On the other hand, he is still referred to as a Frenchman. So, while technically a citizen of France, his behavior is categorized as Algerian.

The difficulties of categorizing Zidane as a player for the French team and as a French person are discussed explicitly by Jaxel-Truer in a July 14th article entitled “The Paradoxes of the Zidane Affair.” In summarizing the range of ideas and emotions, Jaxel-Truer wrote, “[t]oday however, one thing is already certain. The World Cup celebration literally and figuratively took a head butt.”[54] With this statement, the journalist evoked the feeling that the universal enjoyment of sport had been disrupted, not just by Zidane’s actions on the field, but also by the ongoing speculation and critiquing of the match. Jaxel-Truer proceeded to elicit the variety of reactions as a means of outlining the disarray left in the aftermath of what was supposed to be a joyous and unifying time for the nations involved.

After the short flurry of articles that ended on July 14th, there were only 2 more written on the subject in Le Monde: one on July 15th describing the meetings that both players involved were to have with FIFA on July 20th, and a last editorial written on July 22nd. In the July 15th article, the journalist limited himself to giving a summary of the affair to date and a short description of the meeting to come.[55] In the July 22nd editorial, political scientist Philippe Marlière made one final assessment of Zidane’s actions, stating that:

Unfortunately for Zidane, Italy whether “negatively” or “realistically,” is a team that rarely permits a player like Zidane to develop his technical prowess. Zidane tried everything during the match with little success. The superb header pushed aside by Buffon (the Italian goalkeeper) during overtime was his swan song.[56]

Here Marlière attempts to cast Zidane’s performance in terms of ego, claiming that the Italian team’s style of play did not permit Zidane to show off his skill in his customary way. Unable to “go out in style,” Zidane became frustrated and lost his cool. This analysis is important because it is the last article about Zidane’s performance and also because it puts the focus squarely back on Zidane as an individual. It is one last attempt at distancing the nation from actions undeserving of inclusion in the commonly accepted notions of the French nation.

Through Algerian Eyes

Algerian representations of the World Cup were fashioned around a couple of different elements. On the one hand, they were forced to reconcile the head butt incident. They did acknowledge what they saw, but put it into a much different context than did the media from France and elsewhere around the world. Family honor was an important topic in these discussions, as well as the need for discipline on the part of Italian player Marco Materazzi.

Like the French, the Algerian press also acknowledged Zidane’s career accomplishments and cited often Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s open invitation to one of Algeria’s best ambassadors to come and be welcomed by his country. Further, Algerian representations of the incident sought to put the sporting hopes of the nation, and in some cases, the entire African continent, on the shoulders of a few select players such as Zidane and the top African team in competition – Ghana.

The Algerian reaction is also much different, in that Algerians don’t have the luxury of creating their own representation of the incident, of the concept of honor, nor of Zidane or any other player that took part in the World Cup. They were entirely reliant upon exterior representations as a result of the broadcasting rights conflicts, mentioned above.

Writing for the independent, French-language, Algerian, national daily El Watan, Hani summarized the elite press from around the world and quoted some of the descriptions of the French player including one that called Zidane the “dalai lama of soccer.”[57] Here, Hani makes clear two points: firstly, Zidane is an international star, as proclaimed by the press in France and the US. Secondly, Hani makes implicit note of the fact that the press that matters is in the Western world; he cites no African or other papers in his round-up.

Another article from July 9 was solely devoted to quotes about Zidane’s virtuosity.[58] These quotes were taken from other players, coaches and fans who had witnessed or played against Zidane. These quotes were also all taken from players and coaches who work in France as well as from European fans. Again, the emphasis is on Zidane’s star quality, but from a European perspective.

One official reaction came from Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian President, who was cited in a July 11 article from El Watan entitled “Bouteflika congratulates Zinedine Zidane.” The quote from the president was typical of Algerian reactions, explaining Zidane’s actions two ways: in terms of the rules of the sport, and more importantly in terms of humanity. While Bouteflika said that he was “pained by the incident opposing Zidane and an Italian player,” he stated that:

if the voice of reason is that of respect for the rules of the sport then we recorded the red card, we assure you however, that our understanding at the same time is of our unbroken esteem and of our admiration. Against what could not be but a grave aggression, you reacted first as a man of honor before submitting without flinching to the verdict. I understand you and for that too, I commend you. Since you have never forgotten the country of your origins, Algeria and the Algerians are proud of you. They don’t forget you.[59]

Here the Algerian president notes the positive aspects of Zidane’s behavior, not as a soccer player, but as a human being. More importantly, he equates Zidane’s sense of honor and acceptance of the consequences with his Algerian heritage. In this sense, he is using this episode to remind the public of what it means to be an Algerian, reinforcing national identity.

The same article continued its association of Zidane with Algerian national identity with a second quote from President Bouteflika, assuring Zidane of Algerian sentiment toward him: “respect, esteem, pride, and solidarity.”[60] By emphasizing respect, esteem, and pride, the president promotes Zidane as a positive role model for Algeria, and by adding solidarity, he works toward unifying the country around the figure of Zidane.

In another article written July 11th, Kharoum elaborated on the concept of honor, giving it a specifically Kabyle touch with a description of Zidane’s origins:

Zidane expects nothing further from soccer. He gave everything, and the sport gave him his just due. Contrarily to our colleagues in France, ingrates, when he defended honestly and valiantly the blue-white-and red, the Algerian public will keep of him an image of an exceptionally gifted player who gave a continually renewed pleasure. As for the head butt, it goes back almost to his origins in la Castellane neighborhood of Marseille. In the part of Kabylia where Zinedine has his origins, there exists a certain sense of honor that is called “le nif.”[61]

Here, Kharoum’s article separates Algeria and France in two ways. First, the journalist castigates the French journalists for questioning Zidane’s actions. Secondly, Kharoum positively reinforces Zidane’s link to Algeria, by evoking the player’s Kabyle origins with the concept of “le nif.” Nif is an Arabic word that means nose (while there is a Kabyle term – tinzar – which has the same meaning, in popular usage, even in Kabylia, nif is employed). The concept of nif refers to self-esteem, pride, and honor, but more specifically to an ability to counter any challenge to prestige, consideration, or the moral integrity of one’s self or one’s family.[62] Kharoum is also solidifying Zidane’s status as an Algerian because nif can also be extended to responding to challenges to one’s village or one’s people depending on the context. In this sense, Zidane was defending the honor of Algeria by responding to threats to his family, themselves of Algerian heritage.

Further, in the Algerian conception of nif, restating the insult would be the same for Zidane as if he had given the insult himself. In the European press, there was much speculation about what was actually said between the two players, and even more speculation about why Zidane would not reveal the content of the Materazzi’s insult. This same curiosity did not pervade the Algerian press as the journalists understood this concept of honor, and did not expect Zidane to violate the code.

On July 13th Hammou considered this aspect in his article “Zidane Unveils Materazzi’s Racist Statements.” Hammou noted first that, “As a veritable gentleman, Zinédine Zidane apologized for his act,” in reporting on Zidane’s television appearance on Canal+, the French TV station that carried the post-game explanation.[63] Hammou went on to quote Zidane again, who said, “Don’t believe that it made me happy to do something like that six minutes before the end of my career.”[64] Hammou explained this, as:

Another way of saying that the guilty are to be found elsewhere and many things must be reviewed by FIFA which must in the future be severe with provocateurs as well. Zidane certainly touched a nerve, and the international body must take consideration. It’s in this way that what hurts may well help cure the problems.[65]

Here Hammou acknowledges that Zidane’s honor was violently provoked, and as a result, the player was not at fault, but rather it was the system that allowed Materazzi to make such statements in the course of the game.

This line of reasoning was similar to that in the French press, which led to accusations that Materazzi was the guilty one. It’s not the reaction that is a problem, but rather the provocation. This line of thinking stemmed directly from Zidane’s televised statement in which he explained his actions, where he called upon FIFA to examine the provocation and not just his reaction.

In the Algerian press, accusing Materazzi was taken quite seriously, as one headline proclaimed, “Marco the Sicilian, a recidivist.”[66] This article noted that even the Italian press acknowledged that Materazzi had a history of insulting opposing players on the field, and getting into fights. Benali characterized Materazzi as ignorant and as “the village idiot,” when he said he “did not even know what a terrorist was” upon being asked if he called Zidane a terrorist.[67]

The emphasis on Zidane as a whole human being was strong in the Algerian press, which maintained that Zidane’s reaction was a very human reaction. Success at life with dignity was more important than success by the rules of sport. Spectators may have wanted a hero, but Zidane’s reaction showed something much greater, his humanity. Mustapha Cherif, a philosopher made this point clear in his July 19th editorial:

The image of a unique being that we all wanted, against his will, to fabricate for him, could not last; certainly a genius, a hero without a shadow of a doubt, but not inhuman. He could not continue without reacting, alone in the face of those aggressions. The worst, of a highly offensive character, invisible to the public eye, but intolerable for this sane being, made him lose his second World Cup. But it helped him find inner peace, founded on his noble nature. Master of his destiny, loyal to his own, and always with a clear conscience: a form of immortality. This is worth more than all the gold in the world.[68]

Just as Cherif noted that Zidane’s act made him “master of his destiny,” the sports desk at El Watan had already noted that only a great hero could risk such a violation of soccer’s rules, stating:

In parallel, more and more media outlets are sympathizing with Zidane. Some even believe that his bloody act, far from tarnishing his image, definitively enters him into the legend. “If anyone doubted that Zidane was one of the best players in the history of soccer, after the final, all doubts are gone.” Wrote the popular Russian daily Komsomolskaia Pravda. And the writer added, “Only an epic hero, a titan, a Hercules, could leave like that.”[69]

Thus, Zidane is human, but his humanity is part of being a legendary sports figure. To emphasize this point, the article quotes the Russian newspaper, which uses the terms epic, titan, and Hercules to describe Zidane. Indeed, Yacine had written just a day earlier:

The entire French press asked itself on the day after a bitter defeat about the words that could have pushed the team leader to crack. According to the English daily, The Guardian, the Italian defenseman called Zidane a terrorist. In any case, Zidane is no longer a soccer player, he is henceforth a player of legend. Like Pele and Maradona before him. The time for explanations will come later.[70]

While not comparing Zidane to Greek myth, Yacine compares him to the greats of the soccer world. Not only does Yacine ignore the actual words said by Materazzi, he notes that they are not even important when we are faced with a hero.

The reactions of the French and Algerian press both used Zidane as a hero. The French press wanted a hero in the French style, whereas the Algerian press represented a hero that was Algerian as he was, emphasizing that whatever Zidane stood for, he was an honorable carrier of Algerian culture. The French press also began to distance Zidane from the nation after his head butt, until this became a complicated storyline when fans did not lose any loyalty to their team’s star player. The difficulty of maintaining such a complex characterization may be what led to a sharp drop off in coverage by the French press. Le Monde is a commercial entity and if Zidane’s actions were not seen as controversial, it was perhaps easier to move to a more newsworthy topic. On the other hand, in Algeria, deprived of representation by their own team, the press seized on Zidane and crafted him into a true Algerian hero, even using him to differentiate Algerian identity from French identity. This was a difficult task as the Algerian press was engaged in the task of recasting accounts told in the European and North American press.

References

[i] Alan Tomlinson & Christopher Young, “Culture, Politics, and Spectacle in the Global Sports Event – An Introduction, “Chapter 1 in A. Tomlinson & C. Young (eds.) National Identity and Global Sports Events: Culture, Politics, and Spectacle in the Olympics and the Football World Cup (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006), 1.

[2] John Nauright, “Global games: culture, political economy and sport in the globalised world of the 21st century,” Third World Quarterly, 25, 7 (2004), 1334.

[79] cf. Joseph Straubhaar, Multiple Television Flows for Multi-Layered Cultural Identities? (2006) Paper presented to the annual conference of the Global Fusion Consortium. Chicago IL. and David Winterstein, Language and Media in the Promotion of the Breton Cultural Identity in the European Union. doctoral dissertation. (Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 2001